Official Blog | Sunday | August 1st, 2010

Apr
18

The Detroit Lions and the Spirit of ‘54

By Tom DeLisle

There was a blog posted here recently that recalled the squalid story of one Gary Glick and his status as probably the greatest failure of 1950s drafting in the NFL. That same blog promised to follow-up Glick’s absurd tale with an even more ridiculous draft-day performance by our own formerly beloved Detroit Lions. And since I was the author of The Glick Affair, and thus made the promise, herewith is the Lions tale of woe:

Yes, NFL drafting today has taken on all the trappings of a national Presidential election, with months of speculation and rigorous testing of the candidates, culminating in a day of mad obsession from coast to coast with the announcements of each team’s draft selections. Compare that to the old days when league franchises admittedly sometimes used college football fan magazines as their sources of information on draft day, and that may explain how our Lions once put in the most shameful draft-day performance in NFL history.

Now I can’t prove that the Lions based their draft in 1954 on that season’s “Street and Smith’s College Football Guide,” but they couldn’t have done worse if they’d gone into draft day depending on “The Farmer’s Almanac” as their information source. The true irony in this absurd failure was that the Lions in ‘54 were at the peak of their NFL golden era. Coming off two successive World Championships, and being overwhelming favorites for a record third (which they damned well should have won, which is another story), the Silver and Blue must have suffered an attack of hubris or maybe the first faint stirrings of William Clay Ford Fever to choose as they did.

Baby boomer collectors of football cards will well recall the two mysterious Detroit Lions names and faces that graced the 1954 Bowman’s NFL offering. One card featuring the dashing profile of Dick Chapman, described as an All-American tackle from Rice who was coming to the Motor City as the Lions acclaimed number one choice. Another card that year showed the rather dull visage of Jim Neal, pictured in only a head shot and wearing obviously his green Michigan State helmet that had been haphazardly dyed a lousy blue (nowhere near the proper Honolulu blue) at the Bowman offices. Neal, also an all-American, was hailed as the hard-hitting center from MSU and the Lions key second draft choice.

Both cards turned — symbolically speaking of course — to toilet paper in their holders’ hands as NEITHER of these vaunted selections ever showed up to play for the Honolulu Blue and Silver. In 1954 there was very little reporting on the NFL in the off-season, and hardly any on the draft, so fans were left wondering what had happened to these two precious choices … I among them. Years later I learned that Chapman — and gee he looked dashing on that card, I bet we could have used him — had no interest in pro football, and indeed had planned all along to continue his education and become a nuclear physicist. Now to my understanding, our Lions have NEVER fielded a bona fide nuclear physicist (Alex Karras may have been the closest; it was rumored he could spell) so the all-important choice was a complete washout. How could they not have known??

And Neal … get this one … I once heard that Jim Neal belonged to a religion that banned working on Sundays! How’s THAT for a draft-day recomendation? Did the Lions draft him for the taxi squad? Now…with Michigan State only a short drive from the Lions old offices at 1401 Michigan Avenue, wouldn’t you think that SOMEONE on their staff could have spent an afternoon discovering that Neal was an absurd choice, a wasted opportunity? Or making ONE phone call?? Nope, not the Lions. Instead, at the top of their game historically … they cut into their future chances by drafting two guys in succession who had the good sense to NEVER want to play in the NFL. Never as in never-EVER! Who’d a thunk that?

I loved the Detroit Lions in 1954. I mean … I loved them. (Even though, and how’s this for a draft-day irony, they had a starting center who weighed less than 210 pounds.) I followed every game religiously; I had every card. As a lad, I even prayed in church for their success. Yet they drafted Two Guys Named Nobody when they could have had two top college players. And they crushed all my hopes and dreams when they lost the World Championship that year — to a team they had beaten just the week before — by a score of 56-10. And it still hurts.

Do you think that fate, or maybe the good Lord Himself … was trying to warn me off? … trying to tell me something about Lions days to come…?

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Apr
16

Glick Mania and the NFL Draft

By Tom DeLisle

I find it interesting to observe the national mania that surrounds the annual NFL draft. What used to be a one-day curiosity of apparent interest to only hardcore pro football fans has become a marathon of speculation and publicity that runs literally for months and culminates in a frenzy anf flurry of names and faces being paraded before the nation like debutantes, witnessed ‘live’ by surely the most absurd and idiotic fans this sports-crazy nation has yet produced.

The yahoos (pronounced “yay-hoos” in polite society) who paint their faces in their team’s colors and assemble at Draft Headquarters to cheer and boo the draft-day procession of choice announcements have to surely be the dumbest doofi (plural of “doofus”) to yet spring from America’s seemingly endless well of fan fools.

Give me the good old days when it comes to football drafting. (That’s the way it always goes in these kind of opinion statements; somebody’s always pining for the alleged better days of yore. This one follows suit.) Say, the 1955 draft, now that was a dandy. That was the year that the lowly Pittsburgh Steelers — and yes Virginia, back then the Steelers were the stumblebums of the league and our Lions were among the nobility; the opposite of today — were given the precious first choice in the draft … the opportunity to grab an All-American quarterback or some flashing Heisman halfback who would put fans in the deservedly empty seats at Forbes Field. (And the hot choices in those two categories that year were Earl Morrall of Michigan State, and Howard “Hopalong” Cassady of Ohio State.) With no one holding their breath across the entire nation, the Steelers instead announced the choice of one Gary Glick, an unknown halfback of some alleged defensive talent from Colorado State as the famed First Pick.

Gary Glick? No wonder the Steelers were doormats throughout the years of the Original 12 of the NFL. Draft experts back then — there were only about two in the whole country — pointed out that Glick should have been a second or third round choice, at best, and young Glick went out and proved all the naysayers right and the Steelers wrong by turning in three-and-a-half mediocre seasons in PIttsburgh before being traded to the equally woeful Washington Redskins. After two- and-a-half forgettable seasons there, and another washout year in Baltimore with the Colts, the Glickster retired from football. However, history records that — answering no one’s call — he came roaring back in 1963 when he spent one useless year in the new AFL with the San Diego entry before finally coming to his senses and quitting the game altogether.

Thus ended the Glick Era in professional football.

Needless to say, there was no press conference announcing his retirement. As Rodney Dangerfield used to say about his early days of comedy, when he couldn’t get arrested and finally decided to quit stand-up work, “It was so bad that when I quit performing, I was the only guy who noticed.” Same with poor Gary.

Now, I can think of only one draft performance back in those days that was more sad-sack in its planning and execution than the Glick Affair, and that disgrace falls — naturally, it would seem to modern day NFL adherents — to our own beloved Lions of Detroit. And that story, as the saying goes, will have to wait for another bloody, as the English say, blog.

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Mar
25

Lions Need to Avoid Pacman

By Jeff Lutz

Coach Jim Schwartz has had a strong affinity for former Titans players as shown by the recent signing of players like Kyle Vanden Bosch. The Vanden Bosch signing was a great touch for the Lions not only for the Pro Bowl player that the team was bringing in, but also the great community citizen that he represented when he was in Lincoln, Phoenix and Nashville. Curtis Granderson was popular in this town for many of the same reasons – sometimes being a solid member of the community will make your stock that much higher. The same cannot be said for Adam “Pacman” Jones.

We live in a country where second and third chances are the norm. Where else can a celebrity get in a substance abuse or a sex scandal, and within a year, come back to win a championship or a top award in their field? Sometimes though there is something called too many chances and I think with Pacman, he’s reached that point.

I recall his West Virginia days where he was a real threat on the field. Off the field he was apparently a similar threat and was red-flagged by many teams in advance of the NFL Draft. His many offenses often involve weapons, late evenings, women and alcohol. With a music and wrestling career on the side, it also can be said that the NFL has been a low priority for him. Combined with a neck injury while playing for the Cowboys, Jones is in search for a team and he’s looking to the Lions for being that team.

With all of the good things that have happened to the Lions over the past few weeks, why would they derail anything because they hope to change someone who has shown that he won’t change for anyone. If he didn’t chance for Jerry Jones in Dallas, why would he change in a Lions uniform for a losing team?

Adam “Pacman” Bernard Jones is a talented athlete who needs to prove he’s a changed citizen before he can cash a check from an NFL team.

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Mar
18

New NFL Overtime Rules Could Change History

By Jeff Lutz

I have trouble recalling whether Phil Luckett was a referee that was plain bad or a victim of poor circumstance. Now 10 years since he last wore the white hat in the NFL, Luckett remains a fixture in the rules of NFL games, as his mess-ups have brought on rule changes in the league. On Thanksgiving Day, 1998 at the Pontiac Silverdome, Luckett made an interesting call on a coin flip which led to a Lions victory over the Steelers. For next season, the coin flip may carry an entirely different meaning.

Luckett’s existance in the NFL brought on two signficant rule changes: 1) players must declare “heads” or “tails” before the coin toss and 2) video replay is now in wide use to challenge calls on the field. The ongoing discussions for a rule change however, put more of the game in the hands of the players by allowing both teams to touch the ball if the first team does not score a touchdown. This means that the 31% of games where the team that loses the opening coin toss also loses the game without touching the ball, would not apply here. The league is creating a remedy to one of its most glaring issues, much as it once did when Luckett became a two-word expletive in many NFL cities.

The Lions have had their fair share of good luck over the past few years with overtime. In fact, the last Lions game to go to overtime was a win over the Vikings in 2007. Naturally, it took a Jason Hanson field goal to send the Vikes home unhappy. In the Steelers-Lions Thanksgiving Day game highlighted, it was the Lions that ended up on the winning side. The issue lately for the Lions has been their struggling ability to keep it close at the ends of games.

What do you think? Do you like the proposed NFL overtime rules? What would you suggest?

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Mar
08

Detroit Lions Make Early Off-Season Splash

By Jeff Lutz

The news that the Lions had kicked off their own offseason with a number of free agent signings, and for once, a trade that seems like a steal, may be a shock to most of us that picked up the paper or read online about the news. We have grown accustomed to hear the negative news about the Lions, the jokes and the disappointment that has come with one losing season after another. Each coach has brought their own system and the players associated with that system, leaving behind a trail of despair with stains of losing. Time will only tell whether this week will mean something on the field, but the warnings have been sent that this team has no intentions to lie down to the rest of the NFL.

Kyle Vanden Bosch.

Kyle Vanden Bosch is a fantastic addition to any team. Sure, his production has declined in recent years, but listen to Titans defensive players and they will mention his leadership. Listen to community members in Lincoln, Neb. and Nashville and they will mention his charity. When Jim Schwartz rang the KVB door bell at midnight, he made the commitment necessary to demonstrate where the Lions need to be.

This team has begun to fortify that defensive line with players who know how to win, and help is soon to be on its way.

When the Lions make their draft selection in a few weeks time, the massive amount of holes on the team will have decreased. Though the latest moves have not created a game-changing scenario, the next draft pick will not have the entire weight of the team on their shoulders. Think how differently this team would play if Calvin Johnson had some support around him, or if Ernie Sims had joined the team when there were champions around him. No matter which player the Lions select this April, he will be surrounded by more winners than his predecessors.

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Feb
25

Detroit Lions’ Jim “The Hatchet” David belongs in Hall of Fame

By Tom DeLisle

There’s the old showbiz joke — you need two comics to tell it — that identifies what it takes to make a good comedian. The first guy says “What you really need if you want to tell jokes…” and before he can finish the set-up, the second guy interrupts by blurting out “timing!”

That evergreen has some application when considering the recent elevation of former Lions defensive halfback Dick LeBeau to the National Football Hall of Fame. Controversy swirled around LeBeau’s status — both during the long period when he was blocked from Hall admission, and again now that his longtime coaching record afforded him a second chance via a Senior Committee recommendation of the Lions #44 to the Hall.

Much of the debate centered around the influence of his coaching career, a multi-faceted five team resume that began immediately in 1973 after the culmination of his 14 years patrolling the Lions defensive backfield. The issue raised here does not address his coaching possibly adding weight to his candidacy. Let’s instead take a look at LeBeau’s record and Hall qualifications and compare them to another Lions defensive back, Jim David, another controversial Hall “nominee” (an unofficial term; as with LeBeau many have touted the late David as Hall worthy), and see how time played a crucial role for both.

Dick LeBeau put in an amazing 14 seasons with the Lions, 185 games from 1959-72, showing amazing resiliency for a corner. He was a three time Pro Bowler (Lions fans may recall him stepping out of a starting lineup to do the “Twist” once when he was introduced in Hawaii), and a member of a famed backfield contingent, the “L” boys of Lane, Lowe, Lary and LeBeau. His best credential would surely be the 62 interceptions he rang up in his career. He lacked blazing speed, but at 6′1 and 187 pounds he was a real ‘gamer’ providing steadfast play for the Lions.

But then there’s David, who has not made the Hall, and for whom the term “gamer” might have been invented. If the legendary “Hatchet” wasn’t the meanest man in the NFL, he was surely the toughest 5 ‘10 back in the history of the league. He threw his paltry 178 pounds around with reckless abandon, earning Pro Bowl recognition in SIX of his eight years with the Lions. (David’s backers would tell you he should have been selected seven times, but was barred in 1953 after he ended Y.A. Tittle’s season — and the 49ers title chances — with an “accidentally” applied knee-to-jaw tackle when the QB made the mistake of trying to dive into the Lions end zone on the Hatchet’s side.) David compiled 36 interceptions over 96 games, and — maybe the highlight of HIS resume — he played on three World’s Championship and four division championship teams in Detroit.

And as LeBeau played with the All-L backfield, David was an integral part of the “Chris Crew,” the defensive backfield headed by Hall of Famer Jack Christiansen and later anchored by HOFer Yale Lary. In fact, both players ran alongside greatness. Besides Lary, LeBeau partnered with Dick “Night Train” Lane and later Lem Barney in Detroit, two more legendary Hall choices.

So why LeBeau, and why not David? Like the joke about telling jokes, it’s all in the timing. And timing eventually worked for LeBeau in overcoming the glare given off by his famous backfield mates. While David and LeBeau seemed evenly matched by averaging roughly 4.5 interceptions per season, a working theory was that both failed to receive initial Hall support because they would have been the third of their backfield “teams” — the L Boys and the Chris Crew — to gain admittance. Surely some voters, at the time of David’s and LeBeau’s original consideration, figured that elevating three of four backfield starters from the same team would have been a bit much. Thus did both fail to gain entrance when first eligible.

But when LeBeau’s candidacy was considered the second time around, sparked by his long coach’s service and recommended by the Hall’s Senior Committee, the bright and apparently blinding light cast by Lary and Lane and then Barney had long worn off. And thus voters were able to consider his candidacy outside of his starry backfield affiliation. It makes it seem possible, if not likely, that a new consideration of Jim David — on his own instead of as the third Chris Crewman — could yield similar results.

Sound goofy? Possibly. But it’s an argument that makes sense to many.

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Feb
17

Remembering Former Detroit Lions Fullback Nick Pietrosante

By Bill Dow

The wonderful photograph below captures Detroit Lions fullback Nick Pietrosante catching the game-winning touchdown pass from Milt Plum on December 2, 1962 as Detroit defeated the Colts 21-14.  Next to the Lions’ mascot is none other than Lindell AC bar co-owner Johnny Butsicaris who also photographed Red Wings games at Olympia Stadium.

Just two weeks earlier Nick Pietrosante graced the cover of Sports Illustrated (11/19/62) as part of a preview article on the 1962 Thanksgiving Game that became one of the most famous Lion games in history when Detroit’s defense smothered Bart Starr in a 26-14 victory.

Lion fullback Nick Pietrosante catches the winning TD on December 2, 1962 at Tiger Stadium.

In the fifth game of the ’62 season, Pietrosante broke the all time Lion rushing record held by Ace Gutowsky as the Lions finished second to the Packers with a 11-3 record. They lost the three games by a total of 8 points! It was hard to swallow.

Pietrosante was a former Notre Dame All-American who was the number one Lion pick in 1959, the same year he was selected as the NFL rookie of the year. Not only was he a powerful runner, Pietrosante was a good receiver, an unbelievably great blocker and was the quintessential fullback in the old T formation.

 As a kid growing up in Dearborn, he was my favorite Lion and if I’m not mistaken, I believe he was also Bill Ford Jr.’s favorite Lion. For many of us, it was a toss between Pietrosante, end Gail Cogdill, and linebacker Joe Schmidt. (I still remember jumping over a pile of leaves in the backyard pretending I was number 33 bowling over for another TD.)

Pietrosante, named to the Pro Bowl in ’61 and ’62 played seven seasons in Detroit before finishing his career with the Browns where he would play two years.

Nick remained in the Detroit area where he was a successful businessman. Sadly, he passed away after a long battle with cancer at the age of 50 in 1988.

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Feb
12

Saints’ Championship Rekindles Memories of Lions’ Past Glory

By Tom DeLisle

The hoo-rah in Louisiana hardly seems to have taken a pause following the Saints’ electric victory Sunday night. And in light of the Saints ascension into the heaven where athletics, mass exposure, showbiz, and celebrity make for such a potent mix, I’m examining a memento of another National Football League championship achievement — one registered a mere 52-plus years ago.

Detroit Lions quarterback Tobin Rote crosses the goal line during the 1957 NFL Championship game at Briggs Stadium in Detroit.

Ironically, this celebrates the same accomplishment, victory in the League’s ultimate season-ending game. It’s the Detroit Free Press of Monday, December 30, 1957. And it features a banner front page headline, similar likely to some that were splashed across New Orleans, announcing in two words of blazing four inch height anchored by a massive exclamation point — “LIONS WIN!” The sub-heads, just underneath but still above the paper’s fold, trumpet “Wallop Browns, 59-14 … It’s 1954 in Reverse.”

The 1957 Championship, the equivalent of the present-day Super Bowl, was the Lions third in only six years, and the team’s fourth championship appearance, their only loss being an inexplicable 56-10 defeat at the hands of Cleveland in the afore-mentioned 1954 clash. Word the next day was that first-year coach George Wilson had motivated his “old pro” Lions with a single message on the team’s clubhouse chalkboard before the ‘57 explosion: “56-10.” To that prideful bunch of Lions, that memory was inspiration enough.

Who was the Drew Brees of the Lions last hurrah? The final, smallest sub-head tells the story: “55,263 See Rote Click For 4 TDs, Get 1 Himself.” Free Press football writer Bob Latshaw put it in a nutshell:

“The championship struggle was simply no contest.

“An aroused crew of Detroit Lions virtually ran the Cleveland Browns right out of Briggs Stadium Sunday afternoon to climax one of the greatest clutch performances in pro football history.

“The Lions, sparked by a brilliant passing performance by Tobin Rote, who riddled Cleveland’s defense for four touchdowns, scored two touchdowns in each quarter to avenge the stinging 56-10 defeat suffered by Detroit in 1954.

“That was the watchword all week: Remember 1954!”

Latshaw’s long game summary could have used an exclamation point to end each sentence, such was the excitement I recall all over Detroit as both a young Lions fanatic AND a first-time Lions attendee at that memorable 1957 contest. Rote had been the season-long understudy to Lions legend Bobby Layne, the hero of championship runs in 1952 and 1953, and fellow Texan Tobin Rote stepped out of Layne’s locally manufactured mythology to snatch his own piece of history. Layne broke his ankle, or more accurately had it broken for him by these same Cleveland Browns just three weeks before, on December 8. In stepped Rote, a longtime star of the Green Bay Packers obtained in trade by the Lions as “insurance” for a ‘57 title run, to masterfully steer the Lions past Chicago in the season’s final regular game; to sensationally and unbelievably bring the Lions back from a 27-7 deficit at San Francisco in the Division playoff game; and then to humiliate the Browns in the finale.

When the gun sounded on the ‘57 celebration, Rote was atop the shoulders of surging fans in one area of the Briggs Stadium field and the best linebacker of the age, Lions stalwart Joe Schmidt, was being carried around by another mob of delirious fans. It was a scene to savor, and remember forever. And that is precisely what I — as a Lions devotee from the age of six — have had to do all these decades and years.

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Feb
08

The Saints’ Blueprint for the Lions

By Jeff Lutz

If you somehow do not know it by now, the New Orleans Saints have won Super Bowl XLIV by a 31-17 margin over the Indianapolis Colts. The Saints, playing in their first Super Bowl, did not disappoint, following one of the more unbelievable histories the league has ever seen. This history, has some things that Lions management and fans can learn from.

For fans that really know the history of the Saints, seeing Tom Benson celebrating with the trophy must be like seeing William Clay Ford holding the Lombardi Trophy aloft in front of a crowded stadium. It was Benson after all during Hurricane Katrina, that worked through his PR team to quickly move out of town with all operations to San Antonio. If not for some gaffes in his plans, the Super Bowl might have been between San Antonio and Indianapolis. Imagine Ford, due to the troubled economy, looking to take his team to Los Angeles or San Antonio.

Following Katrina, the team was able to eventually get back in a cleaned up Superdome and get a new coach (Sean Payton) that could change the nomadic culture that had been created the season before. Within a few months, Drew Brees had been added through free agency and some kid named Reggie Bush came in with the number two pick in the Draft. This 2006 NFL preseason and season represents the exact blueprint the Lions need to follow for the future.

The blueprint begins with a GM and coach who have 1) mutual respect and 2) a focus for what it takes to be a champion. While Jim Schwartz may have some of those abilities within, I find it hard to believe that Martin Mayhew is the answer. Next, the Lions need to build the team through free agency. Much like the Saints following Katrina, the Lions will need to overpay and convince players to make the trip north to play for this team. Combine this with successful draft picks in rounds 1-7, and this team might be back to respectability in the coming years.

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Feb
06

Former Lion Dick LeBeau Should Be Selected to the Hall of Fame Today

By Bill Dow

Sometime this afternoon we will find out whether former Lion cornerback and current Steeler defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau is selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

LeBeau needs to obtain 80 per cent of the vote from the 44 person Veterans Committee. (LeBeau’s number was also 44) Mike O’Hara of the News predicts LeBeau is headed to Canton.

From 1959 to 1972, Dick LeBeau played an NFL record 171 consecutive games at cornerback for Detroit and is third among NFL cornerbacks in career interceptions (62).

LeBeau was always a strong defensive back who was a ball hawk and a tough tackler back in the day when defense was truly the Lions’ pride.

In the early 1960s LeBeau was part of Detroit “4 Ls” secondary that also included Gary Lowe and Hall of Famers Dick “Night Train” Lane and Yale Lary. From 1967 to 1972 the Ohio State grad played alongside fellow cornerback and Hall of Famer Lem Barney.

Lion legend and Hall of Famer Joe Schmidt played with LeBeau from 1959 to 1965 and was his head coach from 1967 through 1972. Schmidt recently told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

“Down deep, he knows he should be there. But he’s not going to make a big fuss over it if he doesn’t get there. I know it means a lot to him and he should be there. He’s contributed a lot to the NFL and there’s not reason he shouldn’t enjoy the fruits at the end.”

Amazingly, this year marked LeBeau’s 51st consecutive year in the NFL.

After he retired from playing in 1972, LeBeau embarked on a celebrated coaching career in Philadelphia, Green Bay, Buffalo, and Cincinnati and two stints in Pittsburgh.

Considered an “innovator” and “defensive football genius”, he created the famous “zone blitz” when he was defensive coordinator of the Cincinnati Bengals in the late 1980s. He would later also serve as head coach in Cincinnati.

Despite his great acclaim as a coach and his 14 year playing career in Detroit, it appears the Lions never offered him a coaching position. Joe Schmidt told me that he once tried to get an interview for LeBeau with the front office but the offer was declined.

I think we could have used him again.

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